Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only .404J on a budget

I am finishing up a .404J build on a SS Classic New Haven CRF M-70 action. I bought a donor .300 RUM Classic with Tupperware stock and Nikon 3-9 scope. I got the rig for $750, shipped, from a TX gunshop on a tip from a Fire contributor. I sold the scope and parts. The .300 RUM barrel is now listed on the Fire Classifieds. The action ended up costing less than $400, maybe $350, depending on how the barrel sells.

I bought a Walther SS .423", #1450 contour blank and sent it to be fitted. The bolt face had to be opened slightly and the extractor modified. I got a nice stock from Gunner500 at a good price and steel bedded the action, free floating the barrel. Because of how the stock was inletted, I bought Williams one piece bottom metal, sold the two piece factory SS parts. I added SS Talley bases with 8-40 screws, adjusted and honed the factory trigger to a nice 3.5# pull.

I've not yet scoped it or worked up loads. All that is on my list of stuff to do. It weighs 8# 12 oz. as you see it and should go about a pound heavier, scoped and loaded. I left the barrel at 24", thinking I needed the extra weight. It's drilled and tapped for iron sights. I'll have to get another stock if I want to use irons; this one is set up for scopes.

I'm guestimating I'll have around $1,200 to $1,300 in the build.

DF

Budget or not, it will be a matter of justifiable pride every time you shoulder it for a shot ( even just dry firing in the gun room) Job well done DF. Now sort a load and burn some powder. Mine likes the 400gn Woodleigh over 84gn H4350 and a Fed 215 to run at 2300fps. Great accuracy and very satisfying.

Very nice. I have considered doing the same, though blued, for some time. I have the stock, just need to get on with one. Did you have to do much to make it feed/extract?

DF...I am saving this thread as a reference as you have practically laid out the recipe - thnx

Why did you shoose the Walther barrel amongst the other choices?

DF, that looks great man, and that stock will hang wit ya till the cows come home.

Good job.

Gunner

Ahhh, Gunner. You did recognize that stock...

I chose the Walther, because only a few barrel makers offer .423" tubes. And, their price was pretty good. These barrels are made in Germany, not Georgia, so it took a while to get it. The contour I got is their heaviest, but still a rather light contour compared to my factory M-70 .375 H&H.

I appreciate the load data and would welcome more suggestions on where to go with loads and bullets. I need a soft bullet for whitetails and general use.

Thanks for the replies.

DF

EdM,

As you know, the RUM family is based on the .404J round, so the rails and follower works great without alteration. My smith worked on the feed ramp, cutting it a good bit lower than before, even into the edge of the box mag. It will feed empty cases, at least the first two, hangs up on the third. So, it doesn't feed as well as my .375 H&H M-70, which will feed and cycle an entire mag full of empty cases as fast as I can work the action.

But, .404J rounds, complete with bullets... They feed OK.

I've read that the .404J sometimes has problems, smoothly cycling rounds from a box mag, so it's no .375 H&H. I guess it depends on who worked on it and how it's set up. It just seems a bit more critical than the .375 H&H.

DF

DF,
Lovely rifle. If balance for you is enhanced, I'd consider taking another 2" off the barrel. If you can be bothered and are gentle, 300RUM brass can be turned into 404Jeffery brass and save you some of the premium associated with the '404Jeff' headstamp. Often a rifle will still feed them well despite the bolt face difference.
Cheers...
Con

I went with Hornady brass, which seems to be good stuff and the price isn't that bad. I like the idea of having the bolt face opened for the larger .404J rim instead of the slightly rebated RUM rim. .375 RUM brass would probably be easier to use for that application.

The 24" bbl feels OK, so far. If I decide to, I can always bob it off shorter. That could be an option if I ever set it up with quarter rib, barrel band sling swivel and banded front sight. All that stuff would add some weight and 22" would probably work out about right. For that set up, I'd probably need to get a McM Express handle or a Safari if I wanted to add Sunny Hill bottom metal. An Echols Legend would be an option, but comes set up for two piece bottom metal. The McM can be custom ordered to fit the barrel, bottom metal, etc. I can do the necessary work, but would just as soon not. The full Safari profile would more than double the cost, although it would still be a lot of gun for $2,800 to $3,000.

Thanks to all for the encouragement and the tips.

DF

This is mine DF. I went with a 25 in barrel and aperture sights.



I had a mould made for casting 350gn bullets and run them at 1900 with 63 gn h4350 and these are wonderfully accurate. Have used them on goats so something like that would make a good wt load. (Adi 2209 IS h4350)

VG,

I had seen that picture of your very fine .404J. That guns reeks of class. A lot of the older Mauser Safari rifles had longer barrels, like 25" or so. But, they look like they had a less bulky contour and maybe weren't so heavy. I guess they made them more for packing and didn't worry as much as we do about recoil.

DF

If I was building it again I would use one contour lighter as it weighs just over 9 1/4 lb but as it is not scoped that is as heavy as it gets. It does balance well though, and the little extra in the barrel makes it rise a little less on firing.
I have a friends Lott in the safe just now as I have been working up a cast bullet load for him and it is a monster of a rifle at 11 lbs+ and top heavy with a 1.25-4 S&B scope on top.

Wouldn't a 8+ pound .404J be quite a hand full to shoot?

DF

The one profile reduction would have been 7 oz so would have bought it in at 8 lb 14 or therabouts. .7 rather than .8 at muzzle and .9 rather than .934 at taper start. Even a 23 in against a 25 inch would have meant a more lively rifle, and about what yours is without scope.

You're right. I'm thinking of mine as a 9# 12oz .404J with scope. But with peep sights, it would be exactly that.

My antique eye's don't do as well with peeps as they once did. I have some rifles so equipped, but have to go with scopes for serious use.

DF

I received a question about the box mag alteration. It seems that tapering the front of the box to blend with the lowered feed ramp was all that was done.

DF




Edited to add, look at the "window" on the side of the box mag just below the rails. That's done to widen the box for oversized RUM (and now .404J) cases. The .375 H&H box mag is solid without the window. The big .404J rounds can spread out in the windows (yes, they're on both sides) as they rise to approach the rails, which is a neat way to create a functionally wider box from a standard width mag box.

You can order a Legend stock from Echols inlet for one piece bottom metal. I bought one from him a few years ago inlet for the Williams 1pc unit.

Thanks for that info. I do like the shape of the Legend.

DF

Minor correction. I checked the other threads and remember that I bought the donor .300 RUM M-70 for $700, delivered. Forgot I had talked them down from their $750 asking price. And the Nikon 3-9x40 scope was a Buckmark, since sold.

DF

Dirtfarmer

I have the same build, on a Model 70 Supergrade. When it was first done I had some minor feeding issues. Someone gave me a tip to swap out the RUM follower for a 375 H&H.

That's all it needed. Now it's smooth as silk as fast or slow as you care to cycle it.

Nice gun by the way.